From Short Mystery Fiction Society Authors
Discover gripping short mystery fiction from talented Short Mystery Fiction Society authors. Explore a curated list of captivating books and stories in the mystery genre.
Book
Innkeeping with Murder
by Tim Myers
At the cozy and quirky Hatteras West Inn, innkeeper Alex Winston investigates when one of his guests is found dead at the top of the lighthouse, the first in a series of odd "accidents" that begin to plague the getaway.
Book
Dem Bones' Revenge
by Kris Neri
When the cops catch mystery writer Tracy Eaton's mom, Hollywood legend Martha Collins, alone with the bloody remains of celebrity litigant Vince Sperry -- holding nothing but a lame excuse -- Tracy leaps to her mother's defense, despite her own publication woes.Only Martha seems determined to impede Tracy's attempts to clear her. That just convinces Tracy her mom has pulled a doozy this time, even if Tracy can't see how anything Martha does relates to Sperry's murder..Not that other suspects don't abound -- but those scare Tracy even more. Was Martha right, had Tracy's stuffy lawyer husband, Drew, settled his career-making lawsuit with a bullet? Or did her dad, aging Hollywood heartthrob Alec Grainger, decide to end an old feud once and for all?All roads seem to lead to the past, to one Hollywood scandal after another. Will Tracy's digging clear Martha's past and free her future? Or will she unearth something that's sure to slam the cell door shut on her exasperating, but much-loved mother?
Book
Revenge of the Gypsy Queen
by Kris Neri
Mystery writer Tracy Eaton of California goes after gangsters who abducted her sister-in-law in New York. The family is willing to pay the ransom, but Tracy's sense of outrage is such that she decides to investigate on her own. A first novel.
Book
Taxed to Death
by Debra Purdy Kong
Revenue Canada auditory Alex Bellamy has always dreamed of adventure. During an audit, he discovers evidence of fraud.
Book
Prescription for Terror
by Sandra Levy Ceren
When rape and murder strike young, single women on the sun-drenched San Diego coast, police are stumped. One of the victims was Dr. Cory Cohen's patient. The trauma triggers flashbacks of Cory's own terrifying rape. Her attacker went free, but she vows this one will not. Armed with psychological expertise, she is determined to uncover his identity. In her relentless pursuit, she risks the loss of an important friendship, and worse, places herself squarely into the killer's path.
Book
Unholy Orders
by Serita Stevens
A collection of mystery shorts with a religious theme by such acclaimed authors as Anne Perry, Ralph McInerny, Nancy Pickard, Joyce Christmas, John Lutz, George Chesbro, Margaret Frazer, Kate Charles, Rhys Bowen and more.
Book
The Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers
by Michael Hemmingson
Tales of he tension of crowded courtrooms, jaded DAs, surprise witnesses, stunning defenses, and divided juries fill an anthology of legal thrillers featuring contributions from acclaimed authors such as Graham Greene, Mark Leyner, Irwin Shaw, Scott Turow, Andrew Vachss, John Grisham, and others. Original.
Book
Up and Down
by Mat Coward
Moody detective Inspector Don Packham and Constable Frank Mitchell work together to investigate the murder of gardener Arthur Jones.
Book
The Ambush of My Name
by Jeffrey Marks
Ulysses Grant returns to his boyhood home of Georgetown, Ohio, at the end of the Civil War and finds in his hotel room the body of an unidentified man, whose murder seems connected with the Lincoln assassination.
Book
Final Cut
by Kit Sloane
The movie business can be murder. Filmmakers Margot O'Banion and her lover Max Skull head to Northern California for the final location shooting on a real-life Western. It is here that Margot's desire to remain quietly behind the scenes is shattered as she confronts ghostly images of Hollywood's past.
Book
Diamondback
by Elizabeth Dearl
When novelist Taylor Madison discovers a mysterious letter among her late mother's effects, she heads for West Texas in search of her father's identity.Small, sleepy towns don't appreciate rude awakenings and Taylor soon finds herself up to her neck in rattlesnakes and long-kept secrets -- a deadly combination.
Book
Buried in Quilts
by Sara Hoskinson Frommer
Joan Spencer and the Oliver Civic Symphony are rehearsing “The Unanswered Question” when Joan finds a body. “If you like quilts, music, and low-key mystery, this one will please.” —Deadly Pleasures
Book
A Better Class of Murder
by Joyce Christmas
For the first time, the heroines of Joyce Christmas's two series -- Betty Trenka and Lady Margaret Priam -- join forces to solve murder Manhattan style.
Book
A Deadly Dozen
by Susan B. Casmier
The new murderous anthology featuring mysterious fiction from members of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles. They're seedy or glamorous ... Hollywood or Malibu ... cool, enraged, or totally fed up-meet a collection of fascinating culprits plotting deadly deeds in this anthology of gripping crime fiction from a thrill-minded group of Los Angeles writers. Includes stories by Kris Neri, Cory Newman, Nathan Walpow, Ekaterine Nikas, Gay Toltl Kinman, Jamie Wallace, Phil Mann, Kate Thornton, Lisa Seidman, Gayle McGary, Joan Myers, and Dorothy Rellas. Features "Push Comes to Shove" by Nathan Walpow-selected by Otto Penzler for inclusion in Houghton Mifflin's Best American Mystery Stories 2001 and the 2001 Agatha Award-nominated "Miss Parker & the Cutter-Sanborn Tables" by Gay Toltl Kinman.
Book
Pacific Empire
by G. Micki Hayden
Japan wins World War II in this alternate-history novel, chronicling the political intrigues of an aristocratic family. The protagonists include a naval officer who is the secret son of a Japanese baron and a Jewish woman rescued by the baron from the Nazis.
Book
Deadly Doses
by Serita Stevens
Part of the Howdunit Series, Deadly Doses is written by a professional in the field. It provides the inside details that writers need to weave a credible - and salable - story. Essential buys for any serious author...Will cut research time in half! - Mystery Scene
Book
Murder at Heartbreak Hospital
by Henry Slesar
On location of the filming of a TV soap opera, detective Bill Troy of the New York police investigates the murder of the leading lady, a bitchy actress whom many feared. The author is a veteran TV writer.
Book
Anyone's My Name
by Seymour Shubin
An author is suspected of being one of the violent criminals about which he writes.
Book
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
by Michael Mallory
For nearly sixty years, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera have been creating characters that are cherished by loyal fans everywhere. In the process, they have won more citations and awards (including a record seven Oscars) than virtually any other filmmaker. For the first time, the story of this incredibly successful artistic partnership is told in the lavishly illustrated Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. The deluxe format captures the spirit of these cartoons -- from the thirty-inch foldouts to the special acetate cel on the cover depicting some of the all-time favorite characters.Hanna-Barbera Cartoons celebrates six decades of entertainment by telling the stories of Hanna-Barbera's best-loved cartoons -- which are brought to life through full-color classic Hanna-Barbera art -- as well as fascinating section on the studio and the animation artists, writers, directors, and voices that created them. In addition, special chapters are devoted to six of the all-time classic shows -- "The Flintstones", "The Jetsons", "Yogi Bear" "Top Cat", "Jonny Quest" and "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" and include summaries of every episode. A catalogue raisonne of the Hanna-Barbera Animation Art collection as well as a complete chronology of the studio make this volume an indispensable reference for all animation art collectors.
Book
The Captain
by Seymour Shubin
Unwanted by his grown children, a retired police captain is shunted off to an old folks' home where a series of murders is committed.
Book
Murder in C Major
by Sara Hoskinson Frommer
Oliver, Indiana. Quiet streets. Deep roots. Families and neighbors. Young widow Joan Spencer returns, wondering if anyone can really go home again. She finds few familiar faces, but from those old friends spring connections—and reminders of what long memories exist in small towns. Actually Oliver is not so small. It has a busy college where Joan’s son grows fascinated with biological research. A senior center, where she lands the director’s job. An amateur orchestra where she settles into the viola section—and right next to an unpleasant oboist who drops from his chair during rehearsal. Rushed to the hospital, the man dies, if not to universal applause, then to a general sense of relief. A young Japanese violinist is puzzled: the victim displayed all the symptoms of fugu poisoning. The autopsy confirms he’s been murdered. Enter police lieutenant Fred Lundquist. Investigation determines more than one source for the poison, not necessarily the deadly puffer fish, and a wide circle of suspects. He and Joan gradually make connections until—not quite to crashing chords and drum rolls—she realizes they’ve looked at it all the wrong way round...
Book
Death Dances to a Reggae Beat
by Kate Grilley
General manager of a radio station on the Caribbean island of St. Chris, Kelly Ryan is delighted by her new life in paradise, until she stumbles upon the corpse of a tourist, a loud-mouthed woman found impaled by a spear.